Bad News: Levi’s is Offshoring, Boo!

Levi Strauss & Co., iconic maker of American jeans since the Gold Rush days, signed a deal with India-based Wipro in late 2014. Wipro will handle IT, HR, finances and customer service...allowing Levi Strauss to cut 500 jobs.

The offshoring is apparently a cost-saving measure due to poor retail sales, according to the article. But Levi Strauss won’t say how many of the 500 job cuts will come from the U.S. It won’t even say how many U.S. workers it employs.

Comments on the article are resoundingly negative. A brand so long identified as "Made in the USA" sending jobs off to India? They better expect poor sales for a long time to come.

Worse News: Cognizant Takes Taxpayer Money to Offshore MORE Jobs!

Cognizant Technology Solutions is setting up a new location in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cognizant is an offshoring firm, like Infosys and Tata. They facilitate offshoring for U.S. businesses.

The worst part of this deal? Cognizant is receiving incentives from the State to open its new Charlotte office—taxpayer money!

The article does say that it will create 500 local jobs in the Charlotte, NC area. But it also says that Cognizant often relies on foreign guest workers (like H1Bs) to staff its offices.

This is arguably worse than the Levi’s deal. Cognizant will take State money, set up shop in Charlotte, and hire foreign workers to facilitate even more offshoring. The taxpayers forced to bankroll their own offshore replacement.

Like the Levi’s announcement, Cognizant’s deal garnered nothing but negative comments. Locals are upset over the job losses and economic damage.

And they have every right to be. Both these instances of offshoring harm our economy. Neither is good for U.S. business.